Both Brood XXIII and Brood IV Magicicada periodical cicadas emerged in 2015. It was my plan to go on an epic road trip, see both broods, and report and document everything. I was able to cover a lot of ground, but thanks to cool or atrocious weather, I completely missed Brood IV, and much of Brood XXIII.
The most difficult thing about planning an epic cicada vacation is timing it right. It really depends on the luck of the draw. Cicada behavior depends on the weather, and since we cannot predict the weather months, weeks, or sometimes days in advance, it is difficult to guess exactly which weeks to plan a vacation.
These cicadas like nice weather: dry, sunny, preferably in the high 70s or 80s. If it is too cold, they won’t emerge. If it is too cool, they won’t sing, making it hard to find them when traveling along the highway, because we need to hear them to find them. If the weather is absolutely abysmal, like it was in Texas this year, I’m not even going to try to look for them; I like cicadas a lot, but they aren’t worth having my car washed into a roadside ravine.
That said, I did get to hear and see a lot of Magicicadas, so I’m not complaining.
I traveled through the following states:
Mississippi: ✔ï¸Plenty of cicadas. I heard three 13-year Magicicada species in Jackson, Mississippi, in the woods behind the Mississippi Museum of Natural History.
Louisiana: ⌠I heard no cicadas. Bad/cool weather.
Texas: ⌠I saw the storm clouds, and headed back to Arkansas.
Arkansas: ⌠I heard no cicadas. More bad/cool weather.
Tennesse: âœ”ï¸ Plenty of cicadas North of Memphis.
Kentucky: ✔ï¸Plenty of cicadas in the Land Between the Lakes area.
Illinois: ✔ï¸An amazing amount of cicadas in the Giant City State Park area, including all four 13-year Magicicada species.
Indiana: âœ”ï¸ A couple exuvia/skins at a welcome center.
Note that the ⌠does not mean that cicadas did not appear in those states this year. It just means I did not see them because of weather conditions & timing.
This is a map of my cicada sightings:
Visit my 2015 Brood XXIII gallery, to see more photos like this:
Some specimens:
Some videos:
Cicadas in Giant City Park in Illinois:
Cicadas in the Land Between the Lakes Area in Kentucky:
I heard cicada song in Victoria, Tx on Nov. 2 and was very surprised because I don’t recall hearing any in the fall before. We have not had any cold weather to speak of so that may be why.